Facebook for iPad discovered hidden in existing iPhone app

Facebook's official native iPad application, rumored to be released soon, has been discovered hidden inside of the currently available iPhone-only software on the App Store.

Calling the pre-release software "very good," TechCrunch offered a look at the iPad application hidden within the iPhone software on Monday. The concealed software was discovered and its iPad-compatible mode was enabled by making slight modifications.

Author MG Siegler said he's unsure if the hidden software is the version that will actually ship for the iPad, but he has reason to believe it is "at least very close" to the final product. Most of it is said to be written in HTML5.

"Unlike the iPhone app -- which even its creator is complaining about now as being stale -- the Facebook iPad app uses a left-side menu system that can be accessed by the touch of a button or the flick of the iPad screen," he wrote.

"The app also makes great use of the pop-overs (overlay menus) found in other iPad apps. When you flip the iPad horizontally, the list of your online friends appears and you can chat with them as you do other things on Facebook."

The native iPad application was revealed through a minor update to the iPhone application, version 3.4.4, that was issued this week. The update was originally characterized as featuring a handful of bug fixes.

Earlier this month, Facebook announced it had partnered with Skype to bring video calling to the social networking service. During that presentation, Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg promised his company would launch more products in the coming weeks and months, and referred to the period as Facebook's "launching season" of 2011.

In June, The New York Times reported that Facebook was set to launch an official iPad application on Apple's App Store in "coming weeks." The software was said to feature a "slick design" tailored for the multi-touch interface of the iPad, including overhauled Facebook Chat and Groups features, and also allowing the ability to shoot and upload photos and videos.

Facebook is also said to be at work on a secret HTML5-based Web application platform dubbed "Project Spartan." One rumor from June claimed that Apple has been helping Facebook to the development of the project.

Facebook's official native iPad application, rumored to be released soon, has been discovered hidden inside of the currently available iPhone-only software on the App Store.
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The concealed software was discovered and its iPad-compatible mode was enabled by making slight modifications.
... Most of it is said to be written in HTML5.

I don't buy it. How do you make a "slight modification" to a signed binary? Are they saying the decompiled it, edited the code, then recompiled it and ran it on a jailbreaked device? Even so, written in HTML5? In an app that came originally from the app store?

I don't buy it. How do you make a "slight modification" to a signed binary? Are they saying the decompiled it, edited the code, then recompiled it and ran it on a jailbreaked device? Even so, written in HTML5? In an app that came originally from the app store?

Nope, I call BS.

There is a switch you set when you build an app to say if it's for the pad, phone or both. I suspect they just cracked it using the usual piracy tools and set the flag to pad (or both). Then when you run it on the pad, it will know to use its custom pad UI instead of the phone one. Simple.

There is a switch you set when you build an app to say if it's for the pad, phone or both. I suspect they just cracked it using the usual piracy tools and set the flag to pad (or both). Then when you run it on the pad, it will know to use its custom pad UI instead of the phone one. Simple.

That's when you build it. It's not gonna be there after it's built, ready to be switched again. And the cracking just removes the DRM and such. Building against both is simple, but from code, not from a compiled binary.

That's when you build it. It's not gonna be there after it's built, ready to be switched again.

Sure it is. That's how people got some of Apple's iPhone-only apps to run on the iPad when it first came out.

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And the cracking just removes the DRM and such. Building against both is simple, but from code, not from a compiled binary.

Strange, then, that there's even a .plist specifically for use by the OS itself that can make iOS 5 beta think that it's the retail version, bypassing the setup application and getting non-devs to the Springboard, huh?

Sure it is. That's how people got some of Apple's iPhone-only apps to run on the iPad when it first came out.

Strange, then, that there's even a .plist specifically for use by the OS itself that can make iOS 5 beta think that it's the retail version, bypassing the setup application and getting non-devs to the Springboard, huh?

Guess you're wrong.

Here's something to try, seeing as you know more than me, why not use your knowledge to explain how it might be done rather than just prove me wrong. I'm happy to be wrong, it was conjecture on my part, but I'm always ready to learn.

Here's something to try, seeing as you know more than me, why not use your knowledge to explain how it might be done rather than just prove me wrong. I'm happy to be wrong, it was conjecture on my part, but I'm always ready to learn.

"Just" proving you wrong? So you admit you're wrong. There's nothing more to say.

You can modify plists to tell applications what devices they can run on. There are tutorials to do this on several sites.

Wow, what kind of attitude is that? Like I said I'm happy to be wrong, but I thought the point of a forum like this was to talk about stuff, not score cheap points (although how you score points off someone who isn;t playing your daft game isn't clear)

So you start by ending the conversation because you've proven me "wrong", and then you top it off you effectively tell me to go googling something you haven't even half explained so I can prove myself wrong on your behalf because you're either too idle or full of shit to do it yourself. At least the guy above sent a link.

Something about this story made me momentarily imagine that my iPhone is harbouring a digitized version of Zuckerberg who is ready to break out at a moment's notice and invade my other devices before calling me a bitch and stealing my contact information.

Finally he'll subscribe me to all the most obnoxious facebook games and friend the people I hated at school before disappearing back into his digital hidey hole.

I don't buy it. How do you make a "slight modification" to a signed binary? Are they saying the decompiled it, edited the code, then recompiled it and ran it on a jailbreaked device? Even so, written in HTML5? In an app that came originally from the app store?

Nope, I call BS.

1) Hidden app: There are many ways they can enable/disable this without changing code. If I were doing this, it would be as simple as checking the username against a special permission. Theyve probably done this so their own team can beta-test... so when a Facebook beta-tester logs in, it checks a special permission on the server and enables the full iPad app. Its really no different than being able to turn on/off a friends ability to see your wall. This is a very common practice in software development... In my corporate apps we always would push out new modules into the production environment and only permission my beta-testers.
2) I believe the app (like many iOS apps) is a hybrid of app plus browser.. and honestly, i think the iPhone app already uses the concept. When viewing comments and editing, it seems to be a web presentation... I've seen the features change when I havent even updated the app which makes me think its coming from the web. Since the early days of Microsoft IE and their ActiveX controls (10+ years ago), you could embed a browser within an application... Facebook is doing a similar thing with its iOS app.

Wow, what kind of attitude is that? Like I said I'm happy to be wrong, but I thought the point of a forum like this was to talk about stuff, not score cheap points (although how you score points off someone who isn;t playing your daft game isn't clear)

So you start by ending the conversation because you've proven me "wrong", and then you top it off you effectively tell me to go googling something you haven't even half explained so I can prove myself wrong on your behalf because you're either too idle or full of shit to do it yourself. At least the guy above sent a link.

Luckily I wasn't updated to iOS4.3.4 so it was still jailbrakeable. The whole process took about 5 minutes. iFile changed the one digit to enable iPad mode and it does look and work great. I had one bug with a picture which remained on the screen all the time. Got it ok after respring.
Great news!

No, I remembered (shocker) the article from a year and a half ago. Googling got me the image from it.

I love wordplay where the definition is used in a different context. It's great.

Wow Tallest Skil, it's pretty unanimous here that you are a douschebag. Sorry not all of us here follow Apple 24/7/365 and remember articles from 18 months ago. I didn't know these forums required extensive research to a question before you ask it. I guess next time when I want to know something, I'll spend time researching it rather than simply "ask." You're so far into technology that you forgot that a little something called "communication" still exists. Thus, it might not be a bad idea for someone who has a question to ask someone knowledged on the topic to "communicate" the answer to them.

It's one thing to sit on your high horse and quietly laugh at people who are inferior to your almighty knowledge on the Apple religion, but don't patronize people and call them out. Just plain wrong.

Wow Tallest Skil, it's pretty unanimous here that you are a douschebag. Sorry not all of us here follow Apple 24/7/365 and remember articles from 18 months ago.

I said nothing about him being forced to remember anything. I was shocked at my OWN ability to remember it, as I have terrible short and long term memory.

I was also shocked at his inability to search on his own about whether this was possible. It was a simple search to find what I was looking for, and he had obviously not done it.

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I didn't know these forums required extensive research to a question before you ask it.

They don't. Having the skills necessary to answer your own questions is a benefit of which many no longer take advantage. They want what they want when they want it, and not by their own hand.

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I guess next time when I want to know something, I'll spend time researching it rather than simply "ask."

Answering this question out of context: That would be great.

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You're so far into technology that you forgot that a little something called "communication" still exists. Thus, it might not be a bad idea for someone who has a question to ask someone knowledged on the topic to "communicate" the answer to them.

For something that requires a human to answer, absolutely ask it here; there's no way on heaven or Earth that I'd reject those questions.

But yes or no questions, questions that can be answered by using Help in the Menu Bar of an application, and common questions that can be answered by looking around for the half-trillion discussion about them on the Internet should be taken care of by the asker.

I said nothing about him being forced to remember anything. I was shocked at my OWN ability to remember it, as I have terrible short and long term memory.

I was also shocked at his inability to search on his own about whether this was possible. It was a simple search to find what I was looking for, and he had obviously not done it.

They don't. Having the skills necessary to answer your own questions is a benefit of which many no longer take advantage. They want what they want when they want it, and not by their own hand.

Answering this question out of context: That would be great.

For something that requires a human to answer, absolutely ask it here; there's no way on heaven or Earth that I'd reject those questions.

But yes or no questions, questions that can be answered by using Help in the Menu Bar of an application, and common questions that can be answered by looking around for the half-trillion discussion about them on the Internet should be taken care of by the asker.

Thanks for seeing it both ways. I wish I knew half of what you probably know about Apple lol, just didn't want it to be a battle here.

Wow Tallest Skil, it's pretty unanimous here that you are a douschebag. Sorry not all of us here follow Apple 24/7/365 and remember articles from 18 months ago. I didn't know these forums required extensive research to a question before you ask it. I guess next time when I want to know something, I'll spend time researching it rather than simply "ask." You're so far into technology that you forgot that a little something called "communication" still exists. Thus, it might not be a bad idea for someone who has a question to ask someone knowledged on the topic to "communicate" the answer to them.

It's one thing to sit on your high horse and quietly laugh at people who are inferior to your almighty knowledge on the Apple religion, but don't patronize people and call them out. Just plain wrong.

Well I haven't been ostracized recently so I'll take the risk here. This is quite unfair to Tallest Skil. First stuffe concluded his initial post with "Nope, I call BS." Hardly a modest question. ThirdPrize explained how the hack worked and stuffe claimed the explanation could not be correct. At that point Tallest Skil pointed to a plist that supported the explanation of ThirdPrize. Nothing more snark than "Guess you're wrong"

It degenerated from there but all I read was a couple of people explain that an article was not just BS and respond to claims they didn't know what they were writing about. For this Tallest Skil is called a douchebag? ("knowledged on the topic" really?)

I was thinking the same thing... I didn't find his tone inappropriate--at least not before his critics got ugly first!

He perhaps didn't start this one, but he encouraged a deterioration in tone until he was called on it, at which point (to his credit) he got back on track.

The douchebag comment might have been made as a result of Tallest Skill's general tone & approach across hundreds of posts. I generally enjoy these forums - although I'm far from an expert on some of the issues discussed, I appreciate the knowledge I gain here.

Tallest Skill however is the only username that I have ever considered blocking, so that I wouldn't have to read his posts. His attitude and tone at times dramatically reduces my desire to spend time here.

To this point I've resisted the temptation because he is clearly knowledgeable and thus able to add significant value, so long as he is capable of treating others with respect.

Well I haven't been ostracized recently so I'll take the risk here. This is quite unfair to Tallest Skil. First stuffe concluded his initial post with "Nope, I call BS." Hardly a modest question. ThirdPrize explained how the hack worked and stuffe claimed the explanation could not be correct. At that point Tallest Skil pointed to a plist that supported the explanation of ThirdPrize. Nothing more snark than "Guess you're wrong"

It degenerated from there but all I read was a couple of people explain that an article was not just BS and respond to claims they didn't know what they were writing about. For this Tallest Skil is called a douchebag? ("knowledged on the topic" really?)

Not quite the sequence as I read it. I wasn't aware of the Plist setting, and what with the added HTML5 element I called it out. Wrongly, but as I said in my next post I'm happy to be wrong, I'm not disputing it now and didn't at the time.

What was said first was "There is a switch you set when you build an app to say if it's for the pad, phone or both. I suspect they just cracked it using the usual piracy tools and set the flag to pad (or both)". This isn't talking about a Plist, it doesn't mention a Plist, and it does not describe a Plist. And it's wrong.

I subsequently suggested this couldn't be how it is working (perhaps I should have put it more as a question than a statement), and only then did Tallest bring the Plist thing up, which he described poorly and with reference to other programs other than the Facebook app without clearing up how they might be describing the same thing whilst suggesting that the build switch comment was correct, which it isn't. A build switch would be a part of the xCode project, a Plist for affecting an already built program is different. After failing to actually clear anything up he enjoyed a good put down and cashed his internet points chips.

If it was as obvious as all this, I'm sure Ai could include it in the article, and as for research, just what is there to go on, other than google "iPad compatible slight modifications" which is clearly ridiculous.

Wow Tallest Skil, it's pretty unanimous here that you are a douschebag. Sorry not all of us here follow Apple 24/7/365 and remember articles from 18 months ago. I didn't know these forums required extensive research to a question before you ask it. I guess next time when I want to know something, I'll spend time researching it rather than simply "ask." You're so far into technology that you forgot that a little something called "communication" still exists. Thus, it might not be a bad idea for someone who has a question to ask someone knowledged on the topic to "communicate" the answer to them.

It's one thing to sit on your high horse and quietly laugh at people who are inferior to your almighty knowledge on the Apple religion, but don't patronize people and call them out. Just plain wrong.

And anybody has the slightest disagreement with something that Apple does is labeled a troll.

Well I haven't been ostracized recently so I'll take the risk here. This is quite unfair to Tallest Skil. First stuffe concluded his initial post with "Nope, I call BS." Hardly a modest question. ThirdPrize explained how the hack worked and stuffe claimed the explanation could not be correct. At that point Tallest Skil pointed to a plist that supported the explanation of ThirdPrize. Nothing more snark than "Guess you're wrong"

It degenerated from there but all I read was a couple of people explain that an article was not just BS and respond to claims they didn't know what they were writing about. For this Tallest Skil is called a douchebag? ("knowledged on the topic" really?)

I don't have any problems with what I said, but I DO apologize for wording it in a manner that people could read as being short or hateful.

Conscious lack of self-sufficiency is endemic of my generation, so I've just grown a very small tolerance for it. And as much information that I've learned that I've forgotten, I've also forgotten that not everyone's as versed in this stuff as myself.

I'll try to remember that if I'm making a point based on something I've seen somewhere (and not just first-hand reporting, though generally I provide screenshots for that) to provide a link to where I'd seen it, provided I can find it.

Again, sorry for the wording to anyone who read a tone that offended.

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Originally Posted by pschicago

I know, it's the end of a long article. But must we be so sloppy to say:

Gotta respect a guy who waits six years after registration to post. And about grammar, as well.

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Originally Posted by Haggar

And anybody has the slightest disagreement with something that Apple does is labeled a troll.

You realize I hate about half of what Apple does, right? When people speak nonsense, however, or blatant anti-Apple sentiment, they could be trolls. Disagreeing with Apple is perfectly fine; I do plenty of it myself. Being a polar opposite for the sake of being a polar opposite is nonsense.